Apple shares hit $500 and keep going

Updated. On Monday Apple stock hit an all-time high of $503.83 in early trading, surpassing the magic (and arbitrary) $500 mark. It has since gone back down a bit, but all morning the stock dipped above and below $500. At the time of publishing this post, AAPL was at $499.22.

The stock surge comes several weeks after Apple’s blockbuster earnings announcement, but also in the aftermath of a report about the substandard working conditions at the factories where many of Apple’s most popular products are made by third-party manufacturers. The outcry over the report prompted calls for boycotts and for others to petition Apple to build “an ethical iPhone.”

In any case, investors don’t appear to be fazed. Here’s what Apple’s stock has done in the six months since Tim Cook took over as CEO: